


All of the Time

by SevenCorvus



Series: Avengers 50 Prompt Table [25]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Character Study, Gen, One Shot, Prompt Fic, gen - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-26
Updated: 2012-12-26
Packaged: 2017-11-22 11:32:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/609372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SevenCorvus/pseuds/SevenCorvus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Black Widow did not consider herself unnecessarily paranoid. After all, one did not live as long as she had without developing good survival instincts.</p><p>Prompt: time<br/>Characters: Natasha Romanov/JARVIS</p>
            </blockquote>





	All of the Time

**Author's Note:**

> Written as part of my NaNoWriMo project, and for the prompt "time" on the [Avengers 50 Prompt Table](http://sevencorvus.livejournal.com/24907.html). Each of my prompt fills will be covering a different character combination and most can be read as gen or romantic, I leave it up to you to decide. I will be posting a fic a day for the rest of this month (at least). Feedback is love and will be rewarded with cookies (and smut).

The Black Widow did not consider herself unnecessarily paranoid. After all, one did not live as long as she had without developing good survival instincts. So while she might maintain a constant awareness of her surroundings, might map out entrance and exit points of every room she entered, might catalog every movement of those around her, keep a constant profile of their behavior; it was just prudent really. Natasha took pride in her skills, in her ability to survive, but could admit, if only to herself, that the constant awareness could be draining at times.

It wore you down, having to always be on alert, always prepared for a potential attack. Living with the other Avengers did not truly help. Yes, she had back up on site should it be necessary, but she did not know them yet, not like she knew Clint and Coulson, where she could predict their moves, know what they would likely do in any situation. Natasha did not think the others were threats, not to her at least, but such a thing was never guaranteed. No, living with the others did not give her time to drop her guard. Still, there was something comforting about living under JARVIS’ purview.

She was not sure how the others had felt about moving into a tower with an AI Big Brother, but she approved of JARVIS. Whatever you might say about Stark, he took his security seriously. JARVIS was wired into everything in the tower, every room, every computer, every camera. The others might ask him for help finding things, or doing something, might see him as a butler, but she knew better. He was not just part of the security system; JARVIS was the ultimate security system. 

While other systems might detect unauthorized access or break-ins, might pick up the presence of weapons and recognize a threat. JARVIS was a sentient being, with access to nearly unlimited data. Natasha was sure that he watched everyone and everything and analyzed it much the same say she would, categorizing behavior and preparing for eventualities. She did not doubt that the AI had plans in place, should a situation arise where they would be needed. JARVIS did not strike her as any more trusting than his creator, and she did not doubt that he would act in Stark's defense, even against one of the other Avengers.

Natasha was excellent at evaluating potential dangers, and recognized what a threat JARVIS could be to her, if he ever determined she was a threat to Stark. No, the AI was not someone she wanted to get on the bad side of, but then she had no intention of going against him or Stark, not while she lived under this roof. The Black Widow might be willing to risk her life for S.H.I.E.L.D., but she was not suicidal. She had a pretty good idea of just what JARVIS might be capable of, but in a way it was almost comforting. For as long as she was one of Stark's teammates, JARVIS was likely to protect her as he would her creator. Maybe there were some benefits to living in Stark Tower after all.


End file.
